


The Mystic's Muse

by SummerInAmsterdam



Series: EtNuary [27]
Category: Escape the Night (Web Series), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: An artist wrote this, Andrea's like a really good painter, Apologies, Art, Both in this story and irl, Coping, Gen, I'm Bad At Titles, Memorials, Memories, Painting, Portraits, Survivor Guilt, based on a headcanon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:07:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28396647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SummerInAmsterdam/pseuds/SummerInAmsterdam
Summary: We all know how Tyler Oakley memorialized his friends, but let's take a peek at what Andrea does for them.EtNuary Day 27: Andrea Russet
Series: EtNuary [27]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1589350
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	The Mystic's Muse

Another nightmare, another sleepless night. It was almost a routine at this point, as far as Andrea was concerned. At least she was able to get a wink of sleep this time. She usually gave up after 2 AM. That night, she sat up in bed, staring out the window and into the stars.

It had been a little more than a year since their night in the Victorian era. Now, not only was Joey somehow alive, but he’d managed to drag more unfortunate souls down with him into one of his adventures. If Joey ever suggested something like that to her again, she’d have a few choice words for him.

Only, she couldn’t really think about Joey right now. She was more focused on what her partner in crime, Tyler Oakley, had been doing for their late friends as of late. Ever since she’d shown him that portrait of himself, he wanted to take it to heart, memorializing their friends in any way he could. And he was doing a damn great job, too. From charity events to scholarships and tributes, Tyler had made it his mission to ensure their friends were never forgotten. She couldn’t be more proud of him.

Even so, she couldn’t help but feel a little bad. Sure, she’d always been in Tyler’s corner ever since he’d made his first speech about their friends, but she felt a twinge of guilt. There Tyler was, doing all these great things, and she was still just… there. After everything they’ve been through, Andrea hadn’t really done many notable things. Sure, there was the video explaining where she’d been, but that was wildly altered per that weird Society’s instructions. She wracked her brain for a bit, trying to think of something she could do.

And then it came to her.

She pushed herself out of bed, and made her way to her studio. It was probably a good thing she’d bought all those canvases the other day. She set up her work station, placing a canvas on her easel and getting her paints ready. Maybe it wasn’t much, but she decided that she would memorialize her friends in her own way.

Lauren’s color pallet was one of the easier ones to figure out. It mostly consisted of a group of muted yellows and golds. Andrea ended up using a pretty sparing amount of darker colors. Lauren might not have been able to run in that flowing skirt of hers, but it was satisfying to paint. Almost relaxing, even, as Andrea was adding the greens and browns in the folds of her fabric. The only dark parts of her portrait were her brown eyes, and the little traces of the deep red gems on her necklace.

_I wish we gave you a chance, Lauren..._

In contrast, Jesse’s outfit was darker and more sleek looking. There were hardly any folds except for his boots, which made sense if he was going for a more aerodynamic feel. Well, an outlaw needed to be able to get away quickly, she figured. She added bits of blue and brown for the highlights and shadows respectively. If she only used whites and black, it would make the colors look too flat. She figured Jesse deserved better than that, and she hoped he would have liked his portrait if he saw it.

_I’m sorry I hadn’t gotten to know you better, man._

DeStorm’s outfit was almost like something someone from the modern era might wear, but she figured most fancy suits looked like that. The first thing she noticed was how she could add depth to his suit thanks to the fact that it was beige. She could get away with adding whites to alter some hues for bits of highlights. She used mostly browns for the shadows, but she still added bits of blue here and there. The maroon handkerchief and the top hat added a nice pop of color to the ensemble, and she did her best to put some attention to both of them.

_You might have been an asshole, but you deserve something too…_

Liza’s portrait had a similar process as Lauren’s - having a circle of similar hues to work from. The fact that her uniform was almost the same color as DeStorm’s gave her an idea of what to do with it. Her outfit contained a lot of shades of beige and cream, making it easy on the eyes. If Andrea was being honest, she was a little jealous of the fact that Liza got to wear pants and boots. The whole thing felt so right for her, too. It definitely felt like something Liza would normally wear if she were actually from that period. 

_You deserved better, Liza..._

Despite her best efforts, Andrea had to try a little harder to remember Tana’s outfit. She never liked thinking about the Saloon Girl whose death she was responsible for, but she deserved a portrait just as much as everyone else. Her pallet was a little similar to Lauren’s and Liza’s - a sort of circle of hues,varying from a sort of pinkish color. She experimented with a few deeper reds and browns for the darker parts, which she was happy with. Andrea wondered what Tana would think if she saw her murderer painting a portrait of her.

_I'm sorry, Tana. I hope you like this, though…_

Gabbie’s portrait consisted mostly of greens and yellows, thanks to her dress. Andrea took her time trying to get the designs from the darker lines of fabric right. Her tiara had to be a bit more detailed, and that was the part that took her the most time. She liked the way Gabbie’s hair looked, though. The deep purples and blues contrasted really nicely with the muted greens of her outfit, and the tiara actually highlighted her hair.

_You were alright, Gabs…_

Finally came Alex’s portrait. Thanks to all the time they’d spent together, it was pretty easy to remember how it looked. It was similar to DeStorm’s in a way that someone from the present day might like wearing it, but she figured he might want to hear that they had something in common. She’d have to say she enjoyed painting the detailed pattern on his vest. That and his handkerchief gave a nice bit of color to his otherwise black and white outfit. Another fun thing she got to return to was using yellows and blues with the two former colors. Every time she did that, it helped the picture look a little more real.

_Thanks for everything, Alex…_

Obviously, the portraits weren’t exact representations of her friends. She was certain there were some things here and there that she’d left out, but the parts of them she didn’t remember, she could imagine. The only thing she cared about remembering was who they were. Not as their counterparts from that night, but the people she’d gotten to know.

She finally took a step back to look at her work when the sun was about to rise. Normally, if she stared at a painting long enough, she started to hate it. But these ones felt different. They were all portraits of people she’d cared for, people she lost and who didn’t deserve to be lost. Maybe this could be her own tribute to them. This could be her method of memorializing these poor souls who didn’t deserve what happened to them.

But she figured, now that the sun was actually coming up, what she needed the most right now was a little more sleep. After all, she had a lot more portraits to paint.

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly I think this was one of the more fun stories to write for this project :)


End file.
